"He that would be a great man..." - Quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld

“In most of mankind gratitude is merely a secret hope of further favors.”

“If a man doesn't find ease in himself, 'tis in vain to seek it elsewhere.”

“A respectable man may love madly, but not foolishly.”

“He is great who is what he is from nature, and who never reminds us of others.”

“Man is so great that his greatness appears even in the consciousness of his misery. A tree does not know itself to be miserable. It is true that it is misery indeed to know one's self to be miserable; but then it is greatness also. In this way, all man's miseries go to prove his greatness. They are the miseries of a mighty potentate, of a dethroned monarch.”

“The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common the heroic.”

“I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation that anyone's child, even from the humblest of families, could grow up to own a business or corporation.”

“Remember that just the moment you say, "I give up," someone else seeing the same situation is saying, "My, what a great opportunity."”

“That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.”